The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1887-05-28

oAl OhDA -, VIVA 10,
acted upon. A halfpenny was thrown
up to decide who should have first
play, and the men on the ditch alter
nately called out, at will, any Of the
throws which might have been actually
cast had the dice themsi Ives been ito
the fore.''
Such primitive practice, / venture to
say, had never before been applied
to the nobls science of backgammon. I
use the word advisedly, because with
skill and judgment, what is called bad
luck does not very materially affect the
game. The art is to conquer, despite
bad throwing.
Lynch succeeded a worthy named
Hearne-a nom de guerre, his enemies
averred, for the less euphonious one of
Herring. Whatever his name, the man
was quite character. He fancied
himself poet, and was particularly
fond of taking his favorite pupils aside
" W UuC1u III q NOAAAOOAA
tial manner, soto voce, the latest pro-
auctions OF his muse, 1t being expected
that, little later in the evening, the
favored individuals should delicately
draw him out and solicit him to pub
lie recital of his verses. After good
deal Of pressing on their part. and a
show of resistance on his, (which every
one understood, the little dancing mas
ter would mount on a table. deliver a
flourishing preface in prose, and then
20 through the recitation, in a manner
which set description at defiance. At
the conclusion of this feat, which was
duly encored, Hearne was wont to dis
tribute copies of his composition printed
on whity-brown paper, and the tribute
of a five-penny bit was expected in ac-
acknowledgement of the same simply, as
he said Ito pay for the printing" He
had such peculiar system of orthogra-
phy-spelling the words by the sound
that venture, with all due difidence,
to put forward his claim to take pre-
cedence of the interesting and worthy
founders Of the newspaper-nondescr
The Fonetic Nuz, at which the London
ers laughed heartily dozen years ago.
By some accident, I have preserved a
copy of one of Hearne's poetical COM
positions, in which his own mode of
spelling is carefully preserved, and I
subjoin it as curiosity,--a specimen of
what emanated, some thirty years ago,
from one who belonged to the peculiar
class (cf which Grant Thorburn is the
head) worthy Of being called The Illi-
terate Literati!
"who lives in this Eaden wich |. es to the caste
OF Fermoy ould bridge and its palisades;
He is the best man on the Backwater's breast.
AS thousans from povirty he hasrazed.
''There's no g, and Pear in all Drop this day,
With him can compare most certainly,
In bilding town of buty and sweay
AS Fermoy and its gay sweethberty.
.'Now, weagh well the case betwin him and
those
Who travel the globe and fair lily.
After SKrOOZQlu& tuelr lA0AdAls AdIu WHICH, at
home,
And spinding their store most foulishly."
The most original idea in these "few
lions," is the geographical information
that Italy is not part of the globe. In
the ultimate line, the poet may have
limited little sly satire at the TAT
home'' in high life, where the crushing
of hundreds into a space where tens
can scarcely sit in comfort is esteemed a
great feat.
A wealthy attorney named Henley,
who had been kind to Hearne, was the
object of an eulogistic ''pome." 1t ran
somewhat thus: 49,.
There is a barrister of great fame
In Fermoy, do declare,
Who administers strict justas
Without bribery or dessate.
May God prolong your days.
Your court to reglate,
And force sly roges and villines
To pay their dews and rates.
LOCAL NOTICES.
big spread-the sky.
Samuel Lovers famous drama "Rory
O'Moore'' al the Grand Opera, June II